You read that right – and that’s the number of hours our 10-week-old daughter slept on Thanksgiving night! I woke up thinking I had fed her and just forgotten, but NOPE. She had slept the whole time!

Better yet, the following night, she slept 7 hours AGAIN! Last night was only 5.5, but we think we’re onto something. In fact, in honor of the holiday eating season, let’s call it a recipe of sorts:

• A healthy dollop of stimulation throughout the day (people, people, people – and holding her facing OUT vs. snuggled, so she soaks it all in)
• 4 oz of milk every 2 hours or so during the day (this is an estimate, since she’s nursing, but still)
• Just before bed, nurse her and THEN “top her off” with an extra 1.5 ounces from a bottle (she tends to fall asleep nursing, so our theory is that she doesn’t get her fill before sleep)

I’m sure you’re thinking the tryptophan is what really did it, but I actually don’t like turkey (gasp!). I’m willing to bet (hope?) that part of this sleep stretching is just her little body maturing, too. But leading up to the magical 7.25-hour stretch, she got a lot of out & about time, with lots of people to watch and interact with for sure!

My sister brought her wonderful family and our mother out to LA for an action-packed visit. We found a new hands-on science museum (Discovery Cube), an art studio for kids and went to see Big Hero 6 – AND made a “down-home” Thanksgiving dinner!

Yes, Ella went to her first movie, and while she slept through most of it, I think she really liked it. Don’t worry, we went to a 10 am movie on a Wednesday and were literally the only ones in the theater other than a man who (ironically?) used closed captioning services, so I don’t think he heard her squawk the 2 very brief times she did.

On Thanksgiving Day, our visitors flew home, and we headed over to our second family (the Muirs) for another feast and more people and fun. And believe it or not, on Black Friday, we went to a MALL. I honestly don’t think I’ve done that since high school, and let me tell you that pushing a stroller through the deal-hunting masses and nursing in the Old Navy fitting room do not put Black Friday high on my list of things to do next year…

Yesterday we had slightly longer daytime sleep stretches and not as much stimulation, to which I attribute the less than 7-hour sleep ;)  Apparently we just need lots of visitors and Thanksgiving dinners every single day – so come on out and see us, quick!